One by One
by CheeseChao
Summary: On Cream's 18th birthday party, a gruesome murder takes place. With so many suspects and them dying one by one, will they be able to discover who the murderer is before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi. I'm doing a murder fic now! There will be a lot of characters here so guessing the murderer will be difficult to guess. Various clues will be scattered around but not all are helpful! Please try to guess the murderer as the fanfic goes on! Everyone is 18. Rated M for later chapters...

Cream checked the party list to see who was coming to her 18th birthday party...  
 _Sonic  
Tails  
Amy  
Vector  
Espio  
Charmy  
Eggman  
Knuckles  
Rouge  
Tikal  
Shadow  
Silver  
Blaze  
Fang the Sniper (Nack)_

Cream smiled and handed the list to Vanilla cheerfully. Cheese was helping Vanilla putting up decorations which included balloons, confetti, banners and as much as food as Cream would have ever wanted or even needed. Vanilla grinned.

"This is going to be the best birthday party ever!" cried out Cream jumping up and down excitedly. Cheese nodded his head quickly while sneaking a lick of the mint chocolate ice-cream that was meant for Charmy. The door bell then rang and when Vanilla opened it, it revealed a blue hedgehog with a goofy grin on his face.

"Gotta go fast! How you doing Vanilla?" he said joyfully while constantly moving his feet in motion. Behind him revealed Tails, Knuckles and a rather overzealous looking Amy who was hanging off Sonic's arm. Cream could swear that she saw red love hearts erupting above her head but that was probably just her childish mind. Sonic had finally agreed to go out with Amy but at one condition: To stop following him around everywhere. Unsurprisingly she broke the rule after the third day where Sonic caught her spying on him through the shower door which heavily freaked him out. What happened next was unknown but Knuckles did mention something about them 'making love'. Cream was unsure of what he meant by that although Cheese seemed to have nodded as if he understood. Tails was looking quite annoyed with the whole situation since he was fumbling with his wrist gadget refusing to look up at what Amy was cheerfully doing to Sonic against his wishes.

Charmy then quickly flew in. "Hey Cream!" he said softly. Creamy slowly got on her tip toes (as he was still flying) and kissed him on the cheek. Charmy blushed while Tails grew a look of envy, quickly looking down at his feet when Cream turned to him. Knuckles nudged Tails and whispered quietly into his ears which seemed to make him perk up again. Cream and Charmy had been going out for two months and both had reached a new height for their happiness with this relationship. They loved going to the funfair together along with Silver and Blaze who seemed to only go for the scariest ride there, the Devastator. Charmy's eyes lighted up when he saw the food and alongside him was Espio and Vector who seemed tired from dealing with the bee's antics. Vector was in his best suit: it was no secret he was trying to impress Vanilla. Espio seemed to look bored although many assumed that this was just him in meditation despite the fact that it was more likely he hated social gatherings and preferred being alone in his private dojo.

The next arrival was Rouge, Tikal and Shadow who all looked very out of character. Shadow was wearing a party hat, clown trousers and a bright red nose. Tikal was wearing a elegant ruby dress with lipstick and a diamond necklace. Rouge, the most shocking of all, was wearing a plain jacket and slacks.

"We lost a bet with Sonic..." Shadow groaned while Rouge was looking as if she was going to pass out.

"I look like a slob!" she screamed in anger while Tikal was trying not to fall over while wearing some of the highest heels that were available on the market. Knuckles was dying of laughter and Sonic was snickering while eating a chilli dog on the party table. Tikal was blushing a bit as Tails grabbed her hand like a gentleman to help her sit down next to the fireplace.n

"Thanks Tails. I'm not used to wearing this but you can easily tell that!" she said ecstatically. Tails bowed and went back to playing with his gadgets he had hidden on his belt.

Eventually Silver, Blaze, Fang and Eggman arrived. Eggman was wearing a bow tie and a tuxedo. Fang was wearing a cowboy hat.

"Pingas!" screamed Eggman. Sonic sighed.

"Eggman you don't have to say that everywhere we go!" he said annoyed. Silver was wearing a white tuxedo while Blaze was wearing a purple dress with mini fire patterns at the bottom. Fang looked very out of place but he was surprisingly a very good friend of Vanilla which made Sonic very curious of her intentions.

"Ok everyone go into the party hall! It's time for Cream to open her presents!" Vanilla uttered and everyone en suite followed Cream and Cheese into the hall. There located around 25 presents that were all addressed to Cream.

"Hey this first one is from Cheese!" Cream squealed enthusiastically.

"Chao Chao" replied Cheese happily.

She opened it which revealed an IPhone 6. Amy shrieked in jealously and Charmy was struck in awe.

"Wait... How did Cheese pay for that? He's a Chao. Chao don't have jobs!" pondered Blaze placing her hands on her hips. She stared at the present awkwardly but no one else seemed to be quite bothered about how Cheese had bought this for her. Tikal glared at the diamond pattern present on the phone case which she was not used to seeing put on a simple phone. She wasn't as familiar with technology as the rest of the gang.

"Blimey mate, that's only the first present as well!" Fang reflected as Cream picked up the next present.

Several hours later, the party was in full swing. A full stash of presents was placed in the corner of the room- out of everyone's way- and the whole place was littered with vibrant colours, scorching noise and mess covering the floor. Sonic and Amy had passed out from all the food and drinks they had devoured while Shadow's head laid on Amy's right leg staring at his chaos emerald very thoroughly for a unapparent reason. Rouge, Knuckles, Tikal, Silver and Blaze seemed to be playing spin the bottle in the middle of the room, all looking extremely intoxicated and tipsy. Fang and Eggman were scoffing down Pringles while presumably discussing their hatred for Sonic and possibly an upcoming alliance between the two. Vector was busy chatting up Vanilla while Espio was staring at him disapprovingly yet he was ruining his meditation technique by sipping coke while trying to relax. Charmy, Cream and Tails were putting Cheese to bed as he was asleep. Tails had chocolate milkshake running all over his face as he had accidentally tripped right into the chocolate fountain due to the fact that he was trying to impress Cream by juggling three plates of sausages on his nose and the result was predictably disastrous. Charmy had erupted in laughter because of this and still was giggling from time to time.

"Hey Cream let's go to your room." Charmy sang and Cream smiled in approval. Tails raised an eyebrow.

"What am I supposed to do?" he questioned. Cream gasped.

"Oh yeah. Let's bring Tails up with us!" she chirruped and Charmy made out a quick sigh but luckily she did not hear him. Tails was tempted to get out his Freeze Ray-2 and blast Charmy with it (for fun of course) but he decided not to on the premise that Cream was a pacifist so she despised violence.

They all tiptoed into the room since they were trying not to gain the attention of Vanilla who would grow suspicious of two guys following her daughter into her own personal bedroom. Charmy grabbed the lower region and started nodding up and down.

"AHHHH I need a pee!" he shouted and Cream laughed. Charmy quickly ran out of the room, leaving Tails and Cream all alone. Suddenly without much thought Cream grabbed Tails hands and smashed her lips into his. Tails was startled but he knew that he wanted this more than anyone so he slowly explored her mouth with his tongue, feeling every region. She tasted like strawberries he thought to himself and he pulled her hands closer to him so they were only a small distance away from each other. Tails couldn't stop himself until he heard the buzz of a little bee coming closer to the bedroom door. They instantly let go and watched as the bee entered the room looking quite refreshed. Cream hesitated for a second but then greeted the bee with a kiss on the lips. Tails stared down at the floor trying to hold back his feelings and urges for the rabbit but inside he knew he wanted more. The three of them eventually fell asleep on the double bed after having a very long game of twister in which Tails single handedly defeated the team of Charmy and Cream quite easily since unfortunately the bee was too small to fit his legs 3 spaces away from where his hands were. Everyone else fell asleep shortly after.

 _3 Hours Later:_

Tails woke up, his eyes aching and his mind flustered. All he could think about was of how Cream kissed him and how amazing it felt to him. He couldn't get to sleep again so he walked downstairs flustered only to see some sort of red substance emitting from the toilet door. Tails assumed it was wine but he grew fearful when he opened his eyes fully which hurt but showed how much red covered the floor and door. Carefully he opened it revealing a disfigured body on the floor covered in cuts and bruises. A small badge that resembled a love heart lay beside it a well as a small knife. Whatever it was, it was surely dead. Tails turned over the body at the verge of tears.

It was Silver. Dead...

A/N: I had to kill off Silver first. ITS NO USE! Anyway next chapter will be up by next Wednesday. Who do you think it is? Guess and please review! :3


	2. NOTICE

CHAPTER 2 IS COMING!  
Sorry some serious stuff came up... I'm so sorry. :(


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I am so sorry for this late upload. I do intend to finish this story so I will notify my readers when the next chapter is up. Anyway please review and so on... :)

Tails screamed. He jerked backwards from shock, banging his head onto the shower curtain's pole which began to cause several amounts of pain all over his head. The blood covered his white shoes while the fox was heavily trying to get up, almost unable to breathe properly as he continued to stare at the lifeless, deformed and unrecognisable corpse that was once his great friend Silver. He heard footsteps arrive to the bathroom door and he heard the voice of Rouge on the other side.

"Hey honey are you all right in there" she said in her usual seductive tone although with a hint of fear as the scream must have scared her immensely. Tails tears covered the side of his face and impaired his vision.

"No... No it isn't Rouge. It's Silver. Help..." he barely muttered out and he saw the door handle turn clockwise ever so slowly. Rouge entered the room quietly until she witnessed the dead body lying there on the floor. She stared at it for a second to deduce if Silver was just drunk but when she saw all of the cuts and bruises she knew it was far more terrifying than that. Clutching her phone at her right hand, her scream for everyone to wake up was deafening but showed a whole new side of Rouge that no one ever got to see: A look of terror. The noise of voices and banging echoed around the house and they all silenced immediately when they arrived at the bathroom. The reactions were as expected; Cream, Vanilla and Charmy began to cry tears of absolute sadness while covering their hands in their eyes almost as if wishing this wasn't real; Shadow, Tikal, Nack and Eggman were helping covering up the cuts and applying first aid to the deceased hedgehog and rapidly shouting instructions at one another; Vector was caressing and looking after Vanilla whose head was laying on the crocodile while Vector embraced her and wrapped his arms around her as Espio was busy looking at the scene right in front of him. Rouge was frantically dialling for the police but seemingly failing to retrieve a substantial connection as she sighed in frustration. Blaze looked as if she had just died inside as she was just staring at the corpse dead silent. The only ones missing from viewing this tragedy was Sonic, Amy and Knuckles who were sleeping in a tent located in the garden since they apparently wanted 'some privacy'. Espio reached out his hands and picked up the childish love heart badge which laid beside the corpse.

"How could this happen?" cried out Cream who was shaking badly in the arms of Charmy who looked even more frightened. Espio glared at the small knife which was covered in dark red blood.

"I can't get a signal" Rouge exclaimed as Eggman and Nack were struggling to lift up Silver's body.

"Everyone! Go to the front room while me and Rouge try to call for the police. Vanilla lead everyone down there! The killer could still be in this house so we all need to stick together. Eggman go notify Sonic and the others with him about what just happened." shouted out Espio so everyone could hear him and despite the panic they are managed to arrive at the front room while Espio and Rouge slowly followed behind. Blaze however did not move. Her hands erupted in flames and her expression was of pure anger. Shadow turned around with his arms crossed.

"Blaze that means you too." Shadow muttered but Blaze immediately shot a fire blast right at Shadow but the raven hedgehog was already experienced in combat and quickly chaos controlled out of the way.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do! Silver is dead! Dead!" she screamed and Rouge jumped in fright from hearing these words. Shadow's stance remained unchanged. He growled.

"Yeah and you'll be the same if you just stand there alone!" he nonchalantly replied. Blaze growled but eventually followed the rest into the front room. Fear was the general atmosphere inside the house at this moment and Blaze was hugging the corpse of Silver but seemingly no tears were shed. Around 5 minutes later Sonic, Amy and Knuckles had shown up, the trio looking distraught over the death of the silver hedgehog. Amy was cowering in the grasp of Sonic who was sitting down on the couch nervously, continuously gazing at the unbelievable sight. Tikal and Knuckles were in an unknown conversation as well with Tikal looking very anxious. Vanilla walked up to the middle of the room wiping her tears on the sleeve of her crimson sky dress.

"We all need to stay in the house! No one leave as the murderer could be anywhere in the forest outside. We will wait for the police." she said profoundly while holding back tears. Cream was distraught, holding onto Charmy with such force that it nearly made him topple over. Espio walked over to Vanilla.

"I found this badge next to the corpse. It's in the shape of a love heart. Do you know who this belongs too?" he said and Vanilla stared at it closely.

"Yes I remember this specific pattern on the heart." pointing to the blue stripes located at the bottom hand corner of the badge. "Someone came in wearing it but I have no idea who it was." Espio nodded and turned around to speak with the rest.

"Who here wore this badge today? It was found next to the corpse along with a small knife?"

Dead Silence...

Vector grinned slightly. "I wouldn't be able to hold a knife that small. It would slip through my very hands!" he said but Amy frowned.

"Why are you coming to your defence so quickly?" she accused, clutching her Piko Piko hammer by her side.

"Look, all I'm saying is that I have no grievance with Silver. It must be someone who dislikes him, such as Nack!" Nack gasped in horror.

"Ayyy Mate! Blimey, You can't just threaten me like that. You're a baby roo compared to me. Anyway I don't even know the is like the only time I've ever met the guy." Knuckles nodded in agreement and Rouge smirked.

"It can't be Nack. He doesn't even know Silver. Eggman, on the other hand, actually has a reason!" Charmy stated and Eggman jumped up in fright, knocking over the chocolate fountain by accident which tumbled onto Sonic's foot.

"OWWWW!" he shouted out in pain. Eggman quickly apologised and turn to the rest looking sorry and shaken.

"I hate Sonic. Yes that's true. He ruins all of my plans to build EGGMANLAND THE GREATEST THEME PARK IN THE UNIVERSE!" he said a bit too excitedly and loud. "However I never have really interacted with Silver and he has ESP so I wouldn't stand a chance without my badniks which just in case you forgot, they are back at the Egg Factory. he finished while rubbing some dust off his tuxedo.

"We aren't ruling anyone out. I think we need to go to sleep and since we need to stay together we will all have to sleep in the front room. Me and Vector will stay awake and wait for the police to arrive. Everyone go get your things and quickly get back here pronto" Espio shouted and they all got in groups and ran across the house to their respective rooms. Tails followed Cream and Charmy who were still in a severe affected state.

"Charmy how could anyone do this?" she cried out as she was staring into the small bee's eyes. Charmy smiled slightly in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Lets just stop thinking about it. The police will find the killer when they get here. Hey! Where's Cheese? he questioned and Cream responded with something that Tails couldn't hear but giving her expression, Tails knew that Cheese was probably safe in Cream room which she always locks when she leaves (force of habit). Tails looked into Cream's eyes and for a brief second, so did she until she quickly looked away nervously. She was scared of Charmy getting suspicious if she did look or talk to Tails rather than the over-zealous bee. They entered Cream's room and saw Cheese asleep in the cot especially made for him. They picked up the pillows, sheets and blankets and together they attempted to carry it all, right until their attempt landed them all face first into the ground. Cream squealed but then burst out in laughter.

"HA HA HA. Oh... uh Sorry." she apologised and Charmy snickered slightly. Tails fell in love with the way she laughed. So quiet and innocent. Tails wanted to kiss her again for just a second. He envied Charmy for being able to have her. He hated Charmy. Tails was just about to offer his hand to help Cream on her feet when all the lights suddenly went out. The only thing visible was the stars visible in the beautiful silent sky that illuminated the sense of fear and dread in the household.

"Cream? Charmy?" Tails shouted out but there was no reply. He could barely see anything but he could tell he was alone. He walked forward and turned to the left, walking straight ahead hoping to bump into someone. While he was walking, his foot landed on something. He bent down to pick it up and found out it was a air vent hatch that had seemingly been ripped straight off. Tails saw giant amounts of a red substance at the bottom of the hatch. He looked to the right of the hatch only to see Blaze laying on the ground. A massive cut on her face and blood pouring from her mouth. No knife was present this time.

A/N: Next chapter should be by next week. Plz review and like :) Poor Blaze.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Poor Tails. Anyway I really enjoy writing this with my best friend Amy (not the hedgehog) so plz review so I can tell if you like it or not. Also thanks for the reviews I have gotten so far. :)

Her body laid on the floor, the sound of blood raining onto the already stained floor ringing into the timid fox's ears. Tails begged for her to be breathing or just barely hanging on to life, at least one sign of her well-being but to no avail. Her heart was not beating as the fox heard no sound as he placed his ear onto her chest. Another murder had taken place and Tails had one again found the body. He noticed that in Blaze's hands lied a crumpled piece of paper she had probably intended to give to an unknown source before she was attacked. He reached out for her hand but as soon as he released the cat's grasp of the paper, he heard a shocked gasp from behind him. Turning around frantically, he discovered Rouge, Tikal and Shadow standing behind him holding various sets of pillows and blankets. Tikal looked as if she was going to throw up.

"Out of all the people to do this, I couldn't imagine it would be you Tails..." she said as she was choking up in tears, refusing to look at the dead body of Blaze. Shadow and Rouge quickly ran up to Tails, each grabbing hold of his arms and throwing him down to the ground face first. Tails couldn't move at all as he was dominated by the two and Tikal was shouting for everyone to come to the murder scene.

"Please I didn't do it. How could I?" Tails tried to plead but to no use. He was at the scene of the crime, blood covering his feet and hands. He heard the crashing of footsteps and voices get louder during each passing second. Shadow's grasp was spraining his wrist, it aching so badly that Tails had no option but to cry out in pain. Rouge's knees were on to of Tail's legs so he couldn't get up and run so he was completely trapped.

"Stop resisting! You've been discovered Tails! I know you murdered Blaze and Silver!" Shadow said angrily as his grasp continued to make Tails suffer under his control. His eyes lit up with rage and for a moment, Tails feared for his life as Shadow raised up his hand to deliver a threatening punch but luckily the sounds of the upcoming crowd stopped him. Cream and Charmy, led by Vanilla had just arrived and Cream's face turned to horror. Just for a single second, Tails swore he saw something red on Charmy's jacket but he quickly rubbed it off before he could identify it.

"I was just speaking with Espio about some clues and he said... WHAT THE!" he screamed as he witnessed the situation around him. Vanilla gagged behind him, holding Cream in her slender hands. The rest of the guests arrived shortly after, all wearing their nightgowns, pyjamas and Eggman was holding a red Teddy that seemingly had been ripped at the edge of its hands.

"It was Tails?" Nack shouted looking completely distraught. Eggman gagged as he saw the sheer amount of blood covering the scene. Amy ran over to Tails and grabbed her Piko Piko hammer, clutching it furiously.

"I'm going to kill you Tails!" she screamed but Sonic and Knuckles holded her back with all of their strength.

"Tails? Why would it be that irritating fox? I thought he was best friends with any hedgehog that comes his way? I deduce that Tails is insane and he should be sent to prison immediately for his crimes!" shouted out Eggman triumphantly but Cream frowned and walked up to the sly fox.

"NO! It's not Tails. I know it. Please everyone listen to me. I know Tails. He wouldn't do this ever. Please it must have been someone else!" but no one was paying attention and was too busy holding Tails to the ground with all their strength.

Shadow and Rouge carried Tails (following behind them was the rest of the guests, voices ever so loud but incomprihensible to the fox's badly injured ears due to the scuffle with the raven hedgehog earlier) all the way to the living room and Espio got out his handcuffs in order to leave Tails completely unable to move. The fox's pain was scorching, his legs aching and never-ending throbbing pain located at his forehead. He could barely see at all, his eyes refusing to stay open since he was so tired. He turned his head slightly so it wouldn't hurt him too much only to see Cream's large eyes staring back at him. She was distraught and in disbelief that Tails could have done this. Tails couldn't even be bothered to argue his case, the torture of moving right now was not worth it in the slightest. Shadow and Espio were right in front of him, making every string and chain that binded him together as tight as possible. The fear in the room was apparent as Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Tikal were staying further away from Tails than any other. He would have thought that his best friend of all people would stick up for him but it was not meant to be. Tails began to become angry, his rage burning up like an out of control fire blazing through everything in its wake. He mustered up the energy to open its mouth to let out a loud yell.

"SONIC! You actually think this was me? We've been friends for over 10 years! Listen to me. You know deep down this wasn't me. Please Sonic." He cried out and Sonic looked very guilty and befuddled. He glanced at Amy for a second, who looked frightened and walked up to Shadow.

"Are you sure it was Tails? I mean he's my best friend and I know he wouldn't do this." he said and in amazement Amy gasped.

"Sonic! Tails was found at the scene of the crime. He used the air vent hatch and attacked Blaze with it." she said with a frown but unexpectedly Nack spoke up.

"Hey. Wait a sec mate. Blaze is bloody powerful you know. How could she not fend off the drongo with her flame powers?" he questioned and Espio grew a look of concern.

"Well he snuck up on her and she didn't see it coming of course" said Knuckles.

"Yes but a hatch to the face isn't enough to kill someone you stupid yank. Even if she was hit, she would have had time to counter attack. Unless someone super strong hit her. Tails, last time I checked, ain't bloody strong at all. Guess who is though?" he said pointing at Knuckles smirking.

"Don't you dare accuse me Nack. I wasn't there at the scene of the crime. Tails was. And anyway that doesn't prove anything. Tails may not be strong but I ain't the only strong one here, although I am clearly the strongest. Amy' strong. Sonic's strong. Shadow's strong. The list goes on. It doesn't really prove anything." Knuckles replied raising his fist as his temper was clearly rising. Eggman then got up from the couch, intending to contribute to the conversation.

"Well that may be so but that hatch can be only be opened on the inside so someone must have firstly crawled through the vent. Those tunnels are small however. I wouldn't be able to fit in something like that of course. Neither would Vector. So in conclusion I am not the culprit and one of you are. I may be the best scientist, best villain, best doctor and best badnick creator in history but murder? That's a bit below my profession."

"Shut up Eggman. We aren't ruling anyone out. That would be the work of a bad detective." said Charmy furiously. Eggman sighed and sat back onto the couch, helping himself to some chocolate cupcakes.

"Look for the time being, we have to assume its Tails as he was at the scene of the crime but looking at the evidence, he is an unlikely culprit. Maybe he was there just at bad timing but he is the only person here with evidence to his name." said Espio and Vector nodded in agreement. Now we can't go out into the forest until we get a signal for the police so my suggestion is that we lock Tails up in the shed and hope we can get to sleep peacefully this night. I will keep watch since Ninja's don't need sleep." he said boastfully.

"I agree. It's clearly Tails and we should make sure he can't kill anyone else." Shadow replied and as a result, they carried Tails to the shed and tied him onto a pole connecting the spare bed in there onto the ground. Tails was so tired that he didn't even try to fight back. Everyone else had gotten into their respective beds except Espio who had stationed himself outside the shed doors and appeared to be mediating. He was holding Rouge's cell phone and was waiting for a signal presumbely. Tails was just beginning to nod off when a loud crashing sound startled him. He looked around but only saw darkness around him. His eyes were sore and he didn't want to leave them open for too long. He tried to lift his head open in order to see through a small window in the shed. All he could see is a window from Cream's house that allowed Tails to see into the master bedroom where Vector was resting with Vanilla. Tails laughed slightly as Vanilla still hadn't plucked up the courage to tell Cream about their relationship. He automatically assumed the banging sound was from them and closed his eyes again. However the same problem had arisen again around 10 seconds after but this time was a terrifying scream.

"ROUGE!" a voice screamed out.

A/N: Hope that was ok. Nack/Fang and Eggman are so fun to write. Poor Tails as usual. Plz review and next chapter will be up by next week. :)


	5. Notice 2

Notice: Next Chapter coming up by Friday :) Remember to please review :)


	6. Chapter 4

A/N: Extremely sorry for late upload. :( Plz review

Tails hands were covered in red marks from how the rope was binding him to the shed so tight. He wanted to cry out in pain but the scream earlier had distracted him too much to care about how much pain he was currently feeling. He tried to stand up but as before, it ended up in him being dragged straight down onto the floor, bashing his leg onto the nearby shovel. He grew paranoid and afraid, staring to see frightening images in the darkness before him. As long as he was tied up, there was nothing he could do. He sighed and attempted to look out the window but his eyes were aching and he was in too much pain to focus them. Suddenly the shed door blasted open as if an explosion had just happened right outside it and the sight of Espio met the poor fox's eyes. Without a single word, he untied Tails and performed a 'Follow Me' hand signal but unfortunately Tails couldn't bring himself to stand, instead rotating his twin tails at super speed in order to fly to the house. As he levitated, he could feel the cold air brush up against his face which soothed him slightly. Everything was so silent that it only made Tails fear all the more apparent. He followed Espio into the front room and he gazed upon the sight of Rouge lying there. Her corpse was even more disfigured than the last ones. A large metal spike was gouged into her eyes as well as some sort of red material resting on her chest. The rest of the guests were there, all looking panicked and shell-shocked. Tikal and Shadow were investigating the body. Sonic walked up to Tails, Amy following suite behind.

"I'm sorry buddy. I know now it can't be you." he apologised, tears coming from his eyes. Amy didn't look as remorseful as he did however since Sonic's attention had drawn away from her and it was pretty evident that she still didn't trust Tails. Knuckles stood onto the couch and opened his mouth.

"Who the hell is it! YOU AREN'T PLAYING ME THE FOOL! I'll kill you." he screamed and Eggman and Nack stepped back.

"Woah calm down there Knux." Sonic tried to reason but Knuckles was so riled up that there was barely any chance to calm him down except by brute force. Shadow stepped up in Knuckles direction but Espio stopped him quickly.

"Everyone. We need to investigate everyone now! No splitting up. No hiding. We will check everyone's rooms for any possible murder weapons. Let's start with you: Eggman!" said Espio. Eggman didn't look bothered at all and rolled his eyes. Nack was with him and seemed to be pretty nervous which Vector noticed immediately but decided not to say anything strangely. They all walked upstairs into Eggman's room which was the biggest room in the house. There was several posters of himself titled "World's Best Scientist" and "Damn That Hedgehog" littered around and various cupcakes were on the bed-side table along with a weird looking machine. Eggman lifted up his hands and smiled.

"Welcome to my room. Of course you won't find anything suspicious in here so there is no point snooping as you usually do. Nack also sleeps in here by the way since you decided to give him the worst bedroom ever. Not even I could fix the mess that was in there. he bellowed and Vanilla looked embarrassed and covered her face with her hands. Cream and Charmy were looking inside Eggman's wardrobe which contained no clothing but even more scrap machine parts.

"Where's Nack stuff then? questioned Amy and Nack's eyes widened.

"Umm I didn't bring anything. I didn't know I was staying over since no one told me..." Nack said frantically and it was clearly obvious that he was hiding something.

"But I saw you with a bag full of stuff when you came in" said Tikal and Nack gasped in horror. Eggman spoke up yet again.

"I didn't see any bags and don't you forget! I'm the greatest scientist in the world so I remember these things." Eggman responded. Knuckles's face erupted in anger as even he could see that the doctor was lying.

"Shut up Eggman. We all knew he brought stuff in. Why are you defending this guy? He's a bounty hunter!" Knuckles roared and Nack squealed. Everyone was focusing on the two now and the heat of the moment made everyone tense and anxious. Vector and Vanilla accidentally held each others hands but quickly let go before Cream could notice anything suspicious. Eggman was rubbing his hair and trying to come up with some excuse that would get him out of trouble but it was clearly too late. Nack looked as if he was about to burst in tears but then surprisingly he spoke up.

"Ok look. Eggman told me to bring in two of his badnicks to this party. I don't know why but they are in the storage cupboard. That's all the guy told me ok mates?" he told them and Eggman looked furiously at him. If looks could kill then Nack would have never left the house alive. Shadow laughed slightly.

"So Doctor. You brought in the badnicks? Can't live without them?" he questioned sadistically and humorously which made Eggman's eyebrow sweat.

"I mean I made them and they follow my commands. I'm like a father to them. They are the only family I've ever had." he said truthfully and Cream was heard squealing in delight as she also knew what it was like to leave something she loved away from her. Espio sighed and checked the storage cupboard which contained the two badnicks in sleep mode. However the wasp badnick had its stinger missing.

"So that's it. Eggman and Nack used the bee's stinger to kill Rouge!" calculated Sonic but Vector quickly interrupted.

"That doesn't explain the other two deaths however and the metal spike may have not even been from the wasp badnick since it looked too small." he responded casually and Eggman was predictably nodding his head in the background.

"What about this red material though? Anyone recognise it?" Espio questioned and Amy's eyes widened.

"Wait a second. That's from Tikal's dress." she shouted and they all looked for Tikal who was nowhere to be found. Vanilla gasped as she was just at the door a second ago.

"Everyone. Get into pairs. We need to find Tikal before the murderer gets her first." shouted Shadow and he along with Espio ran straight out with him. Vanilla and Vector followed as well as Nack and Eggman behind them. Amy grabbed Sonic forcefully and walked out the room while Cream and Charmy instantly paired together. Tails looked at Knuckles which Knuckles returned with a goofy looking grin.

"Come on Tails. Let's find this creep. Just like old times when we were a team!" he muttered and Tails smiled for the first time that day. The pain he was feeling had become numb and he barely felt anything anymore. He walked out the room alongside Knuckles who looked ready to fight anyone who would cross him but stopped when he saw the red material from Tikal's dress outside the basement door.

A/N: Hope that was ok. I do intend to finish this. :) Please Review and thanks for the reviews I have gotten.


	7. Chapter 5

_A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I always meant to finish this but with all these exams etc I had like no time but a promise is a promise and I will finish this fanfic! Plz review etc and again super sorry! :(_

The basement door creaked as Tails opened it slowly, fear creeping into his mind. Was Tikal dead? Was Tikal the murderer but she had fled the scene? Was she innocent? Tails didn't want to pin anything on her just yet as he had just experienced his closest friends pinning the murder on him. Knuckles followed suite behind, raising his fist just in case of a surprise attack. The basement was quite eerie and suffered from an infestation of cobwebs and dirt which made Knuckles gag exaggeratedly, much to the annoyance of Tails who was closely listening for any sign of breathing or signs of life down here.

"My basement is much cleaner than this." Knuckles moaned as he dusted a cobweb off his shoulder. Tails looked at him with slight anger as now was not the time to complain about hygiene. Tails got out his bag and took out a black flashlight since it was very difficult to see down there. The light reflected onto a enormous mirror which illuminated the room. This revealed a shadow on the wall. The shadow seemed to be laying down. Tails furiously checked the room and found someone laying on the floor over by a badge collection. Knuckles punched the boxes out the way and knelt down to check the body. However no blood was present at all and it seemed as if laughter was coming from it. Knuckles turned the body around and he made out Tikal's spikes and her ruby red dress. There was something in her hands...

"Knuckles? Tails?" Tikal asked with a cheesy grin. Tails immediately grew suspicious.

"Where did you go? You disappeared from the room! We thought the murderer had got you. They were so scared and I was worried!" Knuckles shouted in fury, rage pouring from his cheeks. Tikal moved backwards slightly in cowardice but strangely remained to smile. A noise then came from her hands:

"Chao Chao" said the noise. It was Cheese, Cream's chao pet.

"When you guys were interrogating Eggman and Nack, I saw Cheese fly past the door into the hallway. The hallway where Blaze... you know... (her face contorted into a sad frown) Anyway I was frightened that Cheese would be attacked so I followed him here. I don't know why he was going in the basement but I've just been playing with him. He's really scared but I think Cheese could give us clues to who the murderer is!" said Tikal as she petted the Chao's head. Knuckles was convinced but Tails remained sceptical of the situation.

"Cheese was locked in Cream's room. How did he escape?" questioned Tails. Tikal shrugged gently as Cheese crawled up her arm, making several cute noises while doing so.

"I'm sorry but I don't know. Someone must have unlocked the door during all the panic. I don't know why though... It couldn't have been Cheese though since the door couldn't be unlocked on his side. Maybe Cream unlocked it because she was getting worried about Cheese?" she said as she was wondering who could have let Cheese out of the room and the purpose of doing so.

"Talk to Cheese. Tell him what happened and who let him out so we can figure it out." asked Knuckles looking very perplexed at the weird faces the chao was pulling at him. Cheese stuck his tongue out at the red echidna and did a little twirling dance as if he was mocking him which led to Knuckles growling angry at him.

"I tried to but Cheese isn't saying much. I think he was told not to tell who let him out. Strange but he did tell me something." Tikal explained. Tails and Knuckles lent closer so they could hear her better as they were very interested in what Cheese told her.

"What?" asked Tails.

"When Cheese was roaming the hallway, he spotted a camera. This was Cream's camera I assume as Cheese told me that Cream taught him how to use it. There was apparently only one photo on it and scarily I think this photo contains the killer's identity!" said Tikal.

"Why is that?" stated Knuckles.

"Well the camera was near Blaze when she suffered that terrible fate. It was hidden beneath some laundry and only someone small like Cheese could have seen it there. Cheese come here please! Show them the photo on the camera so we can help everybody." said Tikal nicely. Cheese grinned happily.

"Chao!" singed Cheese as he lifted up the camera and placed it in Tails' hands. Knuckles and Tikal bent over to see the camera screen. The camera was drenched in blood and the right side was severely damaged. At first it looked like the camera would not turn on but after Tails fiddled with it for a bit, the familiar start up jingle played into everyone's ears. Tails checked on the photos but there seemed to be two photos now despite Tikal notifying them there was only one. However it turned out that this extra photo just contained Cheese's face which appeared to be winking at the camera ("No doubt that Cheese took that one!" laughed Knuckles). The next photo was horrifying in contrast. It showed Blaze lying down on the floor. Only her lower body was visible so she must have taken the photo as she was being attacked. Blood and cuts covered her body as if it was a costume and her hands seemed to be struggling to move due to all the bruises and cuts it had suffered. From the angle of the photo, the murderer was not in plain sight. However the photo contained one detail that was massive. In the right corner of the photo, a weapon was visible. It looked exactly like Amy's piko piko hammer. However it wasn't being used as the weapon but rather being held. The air vent hatch was right there in the killer's hands. As a matter of fact, the murderer appeared to be quite tall in this photograph and Tails could tell from the hammer being held very high into the air so either the murderer was tall or they were flying as the lower body of the killer was not revealed in the photograph. Hands on the air vent hatch were visible and they were coloured purple. It was too difficult due to the low quality of the picture to determine whether the killer was wearing gloves or not. A slight metal looking spike, similar to the bee badnick from earlier, was only barely visible in the middle right of the screen but Tails could not tell for sure what it was. Blaze also had a large hole dripping with blood on her arm that was not holding the camera. The hatch would not have been able to inflict this. The clothing of the killer was not visible either but one of Tikal's diamonds from her necklace appeared right in the background next to the stairs as if it had possibly dropped off during the scene.

"Wow. This is big. It gives us so many clues. I think we can use this to find the killer!" said Tikal as they were busy analysing the photograph.

"It's Amy! It has to be. You can see the Piko Piko hammer in plain sight! Although I don't understand why she chose a hatch over a hammer to kill Blaze with? I guess blood over it would have tipped off that it was her but now we can see her holding it in plain sight. And Amy's pretty tall too. She isn't the tallest but I would still classify her as tall." Knuckles spewed out as he viewed the photograph, looking slightly proud of himself that he had figured it out too. Tails shook his head at him.

"I see what you are saying Knuckles but this photo is all over the place when it comes to clues and not all of them point to Amy. Like look the hands are purple and the only people here that is purple is Nack and Espio but then again those could possibly be gloves. The spike thing looks like the badnicks which points to Eggman but it also could show Charmy's stinger or just a generic spike they attacked with. The killer is exceptionally tall which leads to Amy or Vector or even you Knuckles ("I'm not that tall..." quickly replied Knuckles) but they could be flying which then could be Cream or Charmy. Not only that but the killer would have had to be exceptionally fast to escape the scene which obviously points to Sonic or Shadow. This definitely helps us and we'll show it to everyone else to see if they find anything we can. Thanks Cheese!" said Tails and the three both ran up to the front room and shouted for everyone to come down there. Tikal held Cheese gently in her hands. The room quickly piled up with the remaining survivors and luckily it looks like no one was attacked during the search for Tikal. Everyone immediately ran up to Tikal and demanded an explanation for her disappearance but Knuckles pushed them back.

"Hang on. We have some important explanation to share with you all. Information that will help us solve this mystery!" and everyone sat down onto the seats except from Espio and Shadow who remained confronting Tikal and Knuckles. Tails walked up to the two.

"I'm the detective here so I deserve to know what's going on. I've got us all this far!" demanded Espio looking slightly annoyed as Vector was sitting right next to Vanilla looking quite guilty that he wasn't doing as much detective work as he had planned. Shadow, on the contrary, seemed quite pleased.

"I'm surprised that the wonder team of Sonic's sidekicks have found anything of use but you still need to show me this evidence. I'm the only one preventing chaos here." bargained Shadow with a hint of glee in his speech. Tails handed him the photograph.

"Here Shadow. Take a look." Shadow scanned the photograph and told everyone to sit down. He then showed the photo to Espio who was staring at it with the utmost attention.

"Before we go over this photograph, Tikal will explain what happened to everyone." said Shadow and Tikal got up from her seat.

"I saw Cheese wandering through the hallway so I followed him. He led me to the basement and showed me this photograph. Tails and Knuckles and I have gone over it and think we have a better idea on what happened to Blaze." she explained and turned to Tails to motion him to speak but quickly Eggman interrupted rudely.

"Cheese was alone? Doesn't that mean that Cheese would be a prime candidate for the murder? I mean no one would expect him and I've heard that Chao's are strong despite their looks. We need to stop ruling Cheese out!" said Eggman proudly as he was staring at Cheese with suspicion.

"Don't you say that Eggman! Cheese is a good Chao. He would never do that." Cream cried hugging onto Vanilla as she looked at Eggman with anger. Tears dropped from her innocent face and Charmy flew into the air pointing at Eggman with extreme rage.

"Shut up Eggman! Don't you dare upset Cream! All else the murderer won't be the only person you have to worry about!" shouted Charmy. Eggman giggled.

"Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if Cheese is working with someone to commit the murder. It would make sense all things considered." Eggmans said profoundly as Nack was sheepishly agreeing with him by nodding his head and saying thing like "yeah" and "makes sense".

"Come on Egghead. You think Cheese could take any of us down? It only obeys the orders of Cream and she's been with Charmy and Tails most of the time so it doesn't make much sense you blaming him. It seems like you are trying to blame others to cover for yourself!" said Sonic and Eggman growled.

"Oh is blaming me come back into fashion has it? I've tried to beat you forever Sonic. In any of these times, you remember me trying to kill anyone?" Eggman asked and Sonic laughed sarcastically.

"Like every machine was built to kill me. Yes they failed since I am the fastest thing alive but it doesn't change the fact that those machines were made to defeat me and get rid of me." Sonic replied and Eggman wiped his cheek with his hand nervously. Shadow raised his voice to calm them down.

"Quiet! I've finished looking at the photograph."

"And?" questioned Vector?

"Looking at this, the murderer appears to be Amy!"

Amy gasped in shock and lifted her piko piko hammer. She was furious.

 _A/N: I missed writing this. Please review etc. Do you think it's Amy? or do you think it's someone else? Thanks for reading. :)_


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